


overly-complicated orders

by clickingkeyboards



Category: Murder Most Unladylike Series - Robin Stevens
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, F/F, Fluff and Humor, George is a little Shit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-20
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-16 21:08:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29582133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clickingkeyboards/pseuds/clickingkeyboards
Summary: When George, who has been absent from work for a week, finds out that Daisy has eyes for one of their customers, he concocts a plan to get them together (while amusing himself, of course).
Relationships: Amina El Maghrabi/Daisy Wells
Comments: 2
Kudos: 13
Collections: Murder Most Unladylike Events





	overly-complicated orders

_ ‘Listen, this was how it was done. The valet was in the empty room next door, waiting. The French maid leaves the room. Quick as a flash the chambermaid whips open the drawer, takes out the jewel-case—’ _

“Solve the mystery yet, Wells?” George called out, setting off the bell as he pushed open the door of the coffee shop. “Which one are you reading?”

Daisy looked up from her position on the counter, fingers poised over her book. The Poirot mysteries made her feel giddy when she read them and she was practically itching to turn the page. “Oh! Almost. I admit that I didn’t think to consider the role that the valet might have played in the robbery.  _ The Jewel Robbery at the Grand Metropolitan _ , by the way. I felt for sure that it was the chambermaid and Mr Opalsen!”

“Oh, that one duped even me!” he admitted with a laugh. “Poor Hastings is so confused.”

“It’s an affront to even Alexander’s character that you nickname him Hastings. Hastings is certainly charming but… even Alexander is cleverer than him.” Turning back to the next short story that she was beginning, Daisy added, “You said last night that you have some thoughts on a case?”

George sighed dramatically, taking his apron from the hook on the wall and slipping it over his head. He had a peculiar want to be a detective that Daisy was familiar with, but claimed to be ‘stuck in the trappings of education’ until he achieved a criminology degree and could actually begin detective work. He contented himself with regularly infodumping about true crime cases that most people would never have heard of.

“The Somerton Man case, the one Alex was on about yesterday.”

Nodding, Daisy said, “I know the case but… Alexander wasn’t talking about it yesterday!”

“Maybe you were too busy looking at that girl with the overly complicated order,” George replied frankly, taking a clean cloth and starting to wash down the counter. Daisy made an offended noise, and he continued. “You know, the hijabi one who kept giving you searching looks from her table.”

“I don’t know  _ what _ you mean,” Daisy said with a slight leap in her voice. “Anyway, murder?”

He laughed. “It’s a peculiar case, the Somerton man.”

Turning the page, Daisy murmured, “I think that it must be the father,” and said, “I can’t believe that case. The Australian police are stupid.”

“Aren’t they?” George agreed, throwing a dry cloth in Daisy’s general direction to try and prompt her to join him in cleaning the counter. “Though that case is an entire nightmare, it’s like the mystery man just dropped from the fucking sky.”

Ignoring George, she replied, “True. It’s so strange, isn’t it? Okay, I understand why the Russian government isn’t rushing to claim him as one of their spies, but it’s weird that nobody’s identified him.”

“Yeah! I feel like somebody should at least be like ‘hey, I don’t know where my friend is’. I don’t think that’s an usual expectation.”

“I think it’s really hard to disappear nowadays.” Finally shutting her book, Daisy pushed herself off the counter and picked up the cloth. “Shame that Hazel isn’t here today, we could ask her opinion. If only we had been on the case back then! We would have solved it so fast!”

Muttering something about time-travel, George said, “Put the tip jar out. Maybe write something entertaining on it. You may as well have a conversation with Amina. That is her name, isn’t it? The girl that’s been coming in?”

“Yes, but how the hell did you know that?” Daisy asked, flicking water from her cloth at him. “You’ve been off for a week! Only Hazel and Alexander have seen me talk to her! You’ve only seen her once, yesterday.”

“You think that I don’t talk to Alex outside of work?” He raised one eyebrow perfectly and Daisy frowned at him.

“Tell Alexander that he can go to hell.”

George laughed. “He’ll take it as a compliment, considering that it’s you.”

* * *

“Morning!” called a chipper voice, and Daisy grinned. 

“Beanie, Kitty!” she greeted, smiling at the toe regulars who were, without fail, always the first in the shop every morning. “How was your date?”

“Good!” Beanie replied, and Kitty beamed, squeezing her girlfriend’s hand. “Kitty was wearing a lovely dress.”

Reaching for her phone, Kitty said, “Here, I’ve got photos.”

George leant over the counter to admire the photos, and Beanie bounced on the balls of her feet. “The special from yesterday — the weird one — is still on the board outside.”

“I’ll fix that,” George said, picking up the packet of chalks from their place on the counter and taking a cursory glance at their list of specials, written on a notepad pinned beneath the chalks. He couldn’t do endearing art as well as Hazel, or silly puns like Alexander, but he had a much better idea.

“Don’t put anything phallic!” Daisy shouted after him. “I know what you’re like!”

Both Beanie and Kitty laughed as Daisy started to make up their drinks.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Daisy was cleaning the coffee machine when George coughed and said, “ _ Daisy _ .”

She turned around to see Amina walking up to the counter, glittering at Daisy when they locked eyes. Even though it had only been two weeks of mildly flirtatious conversation, Daisy was absolutely gone over her and anybody who looked at her and knew her well could see it.

“Hey, Amina!” she greeted, trying not to notice the way that her voice leapt. “Your usual?”

“Can’t believe you’ve memorised it.” Amina leant against the counter and laughed. “So… were the dating apps not working out?”

Daisy paused in the middle of writing ‘Amina’ on the cup in her hand. “What do you mean?”

Chuckling, she adjusted her hijab and said, “I’m going to guess that you don’t know what’s written on the board outside.”

Daisy squinted suspiciously, resting her hands hard on the countertop and leaning over, trying to see the board. “Our special?”

“Unless your special is a ‘fantastically gay barista’ who ‘desperately needs a girlfriend’, no.”

Feeling herself go alarmingly red, she whirled around in a bluster of blonde hair and shouted, “GEORGE!”

Amina burst out laughing. “Can I still have my drink or does it come with a compulsory date?”

Daisy shook her head in a fluster and ran outside to wipe the message off the board, making a few passing pedestrians laugh. “I am so sorry, Amina.”

“Don’t worry about it,” she chuckled, setting a five pound note on the counter and watching as Daisy hurried to make her drink, her face turned away deliberately. “Daisy, are you blushing?”

“No,” she said, sounding rather squeaky. “I just—”

Taking pity on her, George touched her shoulder and said, “You take the next order, I’ll finish this drink.”

Amina tried to make it look as if she wasn’t staring, eyes following George as he took out his phone and glanced over at Daisy before picking up the cup before writing something on it, copying off his phone. Then he poured her drink into it and handed it over. “There you go, Amina. Sorry for causing trouble.”

“I’m quite fond of pranks myself.”

As she walked out of the shop, Daisy still furiously blushing and ignoring her, she peered at the writing on the cup.  _ Amina,  _ was written in Daisy’s indecipherable scrawl, and much neater handwriting accompanied it.  _ Her number is 09061 100 596. _


End file.
